I've been here before
by FortRider
Summary: A fic with a lot of McKay angst, loosely based on SG1's Window of Opportunity. See profile for better description. Warnings: Character Death more than once, particular warning on description of deaths in later chapters, hence T rating.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My fiction really needs to be read in order, so I suggest you have a look at my profile to see the others that came before this one.

I've Been Here Before…

R.T. (Rodney Time) A.T. (Atlantis Time) 9:00

Rodney glanced around the lab, gently massaging muscles that didn't agree with the training John and Teyla had been giving him. It was, apparently, doing him some good, but being consistently battered and bruised by Teyla, and run to the ground by John was not quite his idea of fun. The pair, however, seemed to be highly enjoying it, typical.

The lab, which an exploration team had only recently found, was pretty much like the others. There were a couple of computers connected to the mainframe, and a device in the middle that had obviously been the subject of the research. What it actually did was beyond him, as he hadn't got around to translating the lab notes.

Looking at it, Rodney decided the device didn't look that dangerous, and so he picked it up. At his touch, lights on the surface of the strangely light device appeared and began to flash, seemingly at random. Deciding that his gene had probably activated it, he put it back down on its stand and turned to decipher the notes.

His studies were disrupted by the unscheduled arrival alarm, and so he moved off to the gate room to investigate.

R.T. A.T. 9:45

John and his team came rushing out of the gate, and the shield rose immediately behind them. A few small impacts followed them through, making the shield flash and crash.

As Rodney arrived from one of the transporters, Cadman, Ford's replacement, handed him a dark metal box. Rodney looked at it, slightly bemused.

"What am I supposed to do with this? What _is_ this?" He asked.

"We think it's a Genii data drive." Said John. "We need to find out what's on it."

"That shouldn't be too hard. Where did you get it?"

"All will be revealed in the debriefing."

"You know, for once it would be nice to be told things _when_ I ask for them." Rodney said, exasperated. John just grinned, and headed off to get changed. Rodney, grumbling his annoyance, set off to his lab.

R.T. A.T. 10:00

"We ran across a Genii team. As they didn't seem to see us, we decided to follow them. At first, we thought they were just scouting out the planet, but a few klicks from the gate we found a Genii research lab. We managed to infiltrate it, and…liberated that data drive."

John, who was giving the briefing, indicated the one lying on the table, numerous cables connecting it to the Atlantis computer system. Rodney had a slightly possessive hand on it, and a more than slightly worried frown on his face.

"Rodney? Did you have any luck accessing the drive?" Asked Elizabeth, worried by his obvious concern.

"Yes, though I half wish it was empty." Waving over the control to dim the lights as he passed, Rodney made his way to the front of the briefing room. "Part of the outpost must have been a research base. The drive contains lab notes, designs, et cetera, but it wasn't the Genii's normal project." He tapped in a command into the control panel at the head of the room, and a hologram appeared over the centre of the table.

"This is based on a blueprint that was in the data drive." It was a space ship, reminiscent of the Wraith's cruisers, but looking far more streamlined and sterile. "It appears the Genii _found_' a Wraith hyperdrive, and, looking at the design, most of the rest of a cruiser as well, and that's not the worst of it.Another command changed the hologram into an image of a weapon.

"Uh oh! That looks familiar." Put in John.

"It should do. It's an Ancient design, similar to the energy weapon that was mounted on their defence satellites."

Even Elizabeth cursed as the implications settled in.

"My thoughts exactly. _And_, to make matters worse, they appeared to have adapted both Ancient stealth technology and shields to hide and protect their ship."

"When will this ship be launched?" Asked Elizabeth, hoping they had time to do a little sabotage, but dreading the answer.

"That's another problem. It was slated for launch about a week ago. As the target is more than likely Atlantis, and we won't see them coming until they drop out of hyperspace, and then not properly until they open fire. We can expect them any time now."

"What can we do to prepare?" Asked Caldwell.

"Launch the Daedalus, raise the shield, and then pray that the cruiser is as well designed as the Genii nukes, which if that information is any indicator, is unlikely."

"I recommend we evacuate all non-essential personnel to Earth."

"Err, not a good idea. We need to save the ZPM for the Chair and the Shield."

"Besides, I think we all are essential, even if just as extra hands for the defence teams. Looking at that thing, I'd say we need all the help we can get." Added Elizabeth.

Caldwell, seeing he was outvoted, backed down.

"Right, commander, ready the Daedalus, get her in orbit. Rodney, ready Atlantis for battle. John, arrange the military forces as you see fit. Dismissed."

The meeting broke up, and everyone headed for their jobs.

A.T. R.T. 11:30

Rodney, who had been getting the shield ready, was the first to notice the large energy signature detected on the sensors. He fiddled with the visual scanners, and brought up an image. He recognised it instantly as a hyperspace window.

He touched the comms. "McKay to Dr Weir and the Daedalus. Sensor's have picked up a hyperspace window."

"Acknowledged Rodney," replied Elizabeth, "Daedalus, intercept that ship."

"Aye Doctor." Replied Caldwell and Rodney heard the rumble as the Daedalus launched from its pier. He finished off setting up the shield controls, and headed off to the chair room.

A.T. R.T. 12:15

Caldwell looked out through the bridge windows, trying to spot something that would reveal the ship. "Anything?" He asked.

"Not yet." Replied the sensors officer.

The entire ship was at battle stations, shields were raised and every '302 was manned and fully armed. Now all they needed was a target.

"Wait." She said, as a blip appeared on her screen. "I have a contact. Energy signature matches the Genii's."

"Right you are. Launch all fighters. Bring us to bear. Target all weapons and fire at will." Caldwell ordered.

The battle cruiser turned around and faced the ghostly image of the Genii cruiser, which gradually became more visible. The Daedalus easily got the first shots, coloured streamers of rail gun bullets piercing the night and being absorbed by the Genii shields.

The Daedalus's contingents of F302s launched, and added their missiles to the barrage of weapons fire.

Caldwell watched, externally impassive, as their shots had almost no effect on their target. The shield was completely decloaked, and he could see what looked like gun emplacements on the hull of the cruiser, and they were beginning to move.

The first shots were aimed at the '302s. Though it was slow firing, each shot was easily capable of taking out a fighter on its own. Fighter after fighter was lost, until, just half an hour into the battle, the last one was gone.

Then, the weapons turned on the Daedalus. Streams of weapon fire from both ships impacted on glistening shields.

"Sir, our shields are down to 37 strength."

"How long will the hull armour last unshielded?"

"Twenty, maybe thirty minutes before we get a breach. After that…" The engineer trailed off, but Caldwell got the message.

"Divert all non-essential power to shields, artificial gravity, main lighting, anything that isn't keeping us alive."

"Aye." The engineer's hands flew across his controls, and Caldwell felt his weight lesson. "Shields are up to 50, but that will only give us a few more minutes."

"Concentrate fire on one area of the shields, perhaps we can punch a hole somewhere in them." He watched the steams of rail gun fire converge onto a point, to no effect.

"Put me through to Atlantis." The Communications Officer arranged her controls, and then nodded at the Commander. "This is the Daedalus. We have encountered the enemy, but our weapons have had no effect. Be advised that it is unlikely we can stop this ship." Caldwell hated admitting failure, but this time is seemed inevitable. "I want it recorded that my crew acted with honour and valour."

"We haven't lost you yet," replied Elizabeth, who until now had chosen to remain silent. "We can send in a few jumpers, give you some support."

"No ma'am. Use the jumpers to defend Atlantis. They'll not get here in time."

There was silence over the radio for a moment, then, "You will be remembered," said Elizabeth, her voice thick with emotion.

"We'd better be," replied Caldwell gruffly, and signalled to the Communications Officer to cut off the connection.

"The shields have failed." Reported the engineer.

Caldwell nodded, and felt the ship rattle as the shots hit the hull. He could have sworn he could hear armour plates being torn off of the hull by the shots.

"Sir, we have a hull breach forming on B deck."

"Evacuate the section and seal it off."

"Aye." A minute later, the breach alarm sounded. "Breach on deck B. Section is sealed as was successfully evacuated. It is now open to space, but there were no casualties."

'Yet' Caldwell mentally added.

An explosion rocked him in his seat, and the breach alarm sounded again.

"Explosive decompression. Engineering's open to space." Reported one officer.

"The main reactor's overheating." Said another.

Caldwell hesitated for a moment, and then gave the order he never dreamt he would have to give. "Abandon ship. Everyone man the escape craft." He looked around him, expecting people to be leaving.

Nobody had moved. "Go on, get off this sinking ship."

"No sir!" Someone replied. "You're not going down alone, sir."

For a moment Caldwell couldn't speak. Then, once he had reclaimed his composure, he said. "Well, if that's what you want, well go down in style. Divert all power to the engines. Let's ram the bastards."

A cheer set up around the bridge, and they felt the engines roar into life.

For a moment, the Genii ship ceased firing. They seemed unsure, caught off balance by the unexpected manoeuvre. Then, they pulled themselves together, and the shooting restarted. Not the generalised shooting of before, destined to destroy the ship with the least effort, but concentrated on the bow if the ship.

Piece by piece the Daedalus was being blown apart, but she was accelerating faster. A couple of seconds later, the remaining hull of the battle cruiser collided with the Genii shields. Metal crumpled as it met the impenetrable shield as the Daedalus was crushed like a car hitting a wall.

When the main reactor was forced against the shield, it exploded, vaporising the rest of the ship and pouring millions of watts of power into the shield. It barely flickered.

Having achieved its first victory, and with barely a scratch, the Genii cruiser carried on to its target.

TBC

A/N2: This will be finished, as I've already got the rest of the story written. However, I'min need ofa beta, for the majority of itso if there is anybody willing, have a look at the note in my profile.


	2. Chapter 2

I've been here before…

A.T. R.T. 13:30

After the Daedalus cut the communications the people in the control room watched their screens in silence. The visual sensors, up to the limit of their range as it was, were blinded by the fire fight, and radar only showed two large points connected by a solid stream of shots.

They watched as one of the dots began to move faster and faster, gradually closer to the second one, and then collided. Nobody needed to be told which ship had come out on top.

After a minute spent in a respectful silence, Elizabeth cleared her throat, and after a false start sorting out her emotions, she said, "Raise the Shield. John, deploy the jumpers and prepare defence teams. Rodney, you and I are going to set the self-destruct." Her voice was perfectly calm, but her face betrayed her emotions. Rodney, after looking away for a moment to compose his, followed her to the controls.

They both entered their access codes, and the warning sounded. The self-destruct was armed.

A.T. R.T. 13:50

Rodney was flicking through the Atlantis database, trying to find an advantage. He had reached the entries about the jumpers. Much was not translated, as they generally learned things as they went along, but Rodney knew enough Ancient for that not to be a big problem.

He paused as he read a paragraph, and then read it again. He let out a cry of "I've found something," bemusing the other scientists in the room who should have been long used to his sudden outbursts. He dashed off towards a transporter.

He burst into Elizabeth's office, where she was also trying to find an edge. "I've got something." He cried.

"What?" She asked, caught up his excitement enough to not be annoyed by his sudden entrance.

"Well, we've always assumed the jumpers have to decloak to fire. They don't. They can't do it for long, it's hard on their power supplies, but we can make it look like drones came out of mid-air!"

"How long will they last?" Elizabeth asked

"Ten, possibly fifteen minutes before they'll need to decloak."

"Will it be enough?"

"If the shields are anything like the Goa'uld's, then easily."

"Good. Tell the jumper pilots. I just hope it _is_ enough."

Rodney dashed out, nearly knocking down two marines on the way, and relayed the news. It spread quickly, and pretty soon everyone seemed to think they'd win this battle. Elizabeth desperately hoped they would.

A.T. R.T. 14:10

Cadman looked out at the stars, wondering if this was the last time she would be able to do so. She'd seen the destruction of the Daedalus on the jumper's sensors, and couldn't shake the feeling that that would be her fate as well. A flicker, a faint image, caught her eye. Right where they'd predicted, the cruiser appeared. It seemed completely unaware of the twenty five jumpers lying in wait.

As she was leading the squadron, Cadman made the decision to wait. They knew the cruiser's front shields were almost impenetrable, but perhaps the rear ones would be a weak point.

She watched as the jumpers closed in behind the cruiser, and when she saw they all had a clear line of sight, she sent the signal to open fire.

Fifty drones appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and headed towards the cruiser. A further fifty appeared from different locations as the jumpers moved after each salvo, giving the impression of many more jumpers than there were.

The cruiser fired back at where the drones appeared from, but none of them connected, which was just as well as a single shot could easily destroy a jumper. Over two hundred drones were moving towards the cruiser before the first one hit. That was enough power to destroy a Goa'uld Mothership, but as the first drone hit the shields, Cadman knew it wouldn't be enough.

The drones were destroyed instantly by the shield, which seemed unaffected. Each one merely caused a flash of light on the glistening wall.

Cadman, seeing they needed desperate measures as things were definitely not going their way, started to release her drones as fast as she could arm them. She watched as the others followed suit, great clouds of drones appearing out of empty space. They'd soon run out, but that was unimportant. Preventing the Genii from taking Atlantis was all that mattered.

Where a couple of clusters met the shield at the same time, one or two of the drones penetrated and did a little structural damage, but it wasn't enough to stop the ship. For a moment, it stopped firing, as if it was considering its next movement. Cadman could feel that something was out of place, and all her instincts told her now was the time to run. However, she couldn't quite work out exactly what was wrong.

The next shot from the cruiser connected with a jumper, which dissolved in flame. Then, another was hit, another fireball lighting the battle field. The Genii could see them, and they were losing jumpers one by one. They were running out of options.

Cadman sent the warning signal to Atlantis, and then threw all stealth out of the window. Across an open channel to get the attention of the remaining pilots, she bellowed, "Target everything you've got at the engines!"

She watched as six or seven other jumpers released what must have been their last drones. Was that all that were left? They'd lost so many jumpers, almost all of Atlantis' squadron, all in one battle. The drones swarmed together and converged on the engines, and several managed to penetrate the shields. Cadman cheered as she saw them explode into many small fragments, but the rest of the ship remained intact.

The cruiser, enraged by their enemies' successful blow, swatted the remaining jumpers like flies. Then, with the fireballs of its foes barely fading, the cruiser moved slowly towards Atlantis.

A.T. R.T. 14:40

The remaining people, having watched one if their last lines of defence be smashed to pieces, were taking advantage of the extra time they had been given as the cruiser moved into firing range.

The armoury and defence stations were a controlled frenzy as weapons and flak jackets were passed around. In the Chair Room, John was making himself comfortable in the Chair, with Rodney hovering over the monitoring Computers, keeping an eye on as many systems as would fit on his data pack's screen.

An alarm sounded, and Elizabeth came on the radio. "The cruiser's in range."

"Okay Elizabeth." John lay back on the Chair, which then tilted back, and closed his eyes to concentrate. At his command lay the entire native defence capability of Atlantis. Hundreds of drones, each at his explicit command, lay in racks, waiting to be launched. The shield lay like a shimmering wall above them, and beyond that, the Genii cruiser was moving. When the shooting started, every shot would be a brilliant point of light.

Attached to every single item was innumerable information about speed and trajectory and any other information the sensors collected. It had been a lot to cope with at first, but now John could deal with most of what he was presented instinctively.

He saw the cruiser stop, easily within his reach, and he focused on it. Imagining his arms extended, he directed a cloud of drones towards it. Controlling both each drone individually and the entire group as a whole at the same time, a skill that apparently came with the gene, he directed them as a close group towards the cruiser's port side, where scans had revealed their main power generator. The tactic, which had worked before with the jumpers' drones, failed.

With intense concentration to not broadcast every word over the comms, John muttered, '''s not workin'."

''What?" Rodney replied, looking up from his screen.

"The drones ar'n't gettin' through."

''Why? They are the same as the ones in the jumpers." Rodney said, and then paused. "But they're not, are they?" He asked rhetorically.

John muttered something along the lines of, 'work it out', and turned his concentration back to the task at hand.

The cruiser had begun to bombard the shield. It still fired slowly, but the weapons were far more powerful than those of the Wraith. The shield was taking a serious beating.

With most of his consciousness attuned to Atlantis, he was subconsciously responding to the events around the city. His head followed the movements of the drones in the air and his body visibly twitched in time to the shield impacts.

Rodney watched, concerned, hoping victory wouldn't come at a higher price.

A.T. R. T. 15:10

Rodney watched the progress of the battle closely. Though the Wraith had the experience of fighting Ancient technology, the Genii seemed to have the edge with weapons and shields, even if they had stolen them. The shield was failing a lot faster this time.

Suddenly, the previously silent but twitching form of John gasped and sat up. The glow of the Chair faded and Rodney looked up at him. His face was full of surprise and, what was worse, horror.

''What's up? Why have you stopped?" Rodney asked.

''We're out of drones. "

''What!"

"I've used them all!"

''What about the spares?"

''It took us a couple of days to load that lot! I don't think we've got time to load any more."

"What can we do?"

"Pray, Rodney. Pray."


	3. Chapter 3

I've been here before…

A.T. R.T. 15:40

John, now feeling a little useless and very frustrated at his inability to do anything, was watching the bombardment of the shield. Each shot made it flash brightly and he was certain the air was getting warmer beneath it.

Rodney came out from the control room and looked up at the shield.

"How long?" John asked.

''Not long. We'll start getting holes soon and if they've got the shields, I'm willing to bet they've got the transporters as well. We can probably expect beam-ins any time now."

"I'd better get the teams together." John yawned; the Chair seemed to have sapped all his energy.

Right on cue, they were summoned to the control room.

"We have a hole in the shield." Elizabeth said by way of a greeting. "We have already detected teams in the east pier."

"Right, I'll get a team out there right away." John made to go, obviously intending to lead it himself.

"John, you need to rest for a while. You're exhausted." Elizabeth began.

He just looked at her, in one glance conveying complete disagreement with everything she had said.

As she saw there was no way he was going to change his mind, she settled with saying, "Be safe, John."

He nodded absently and then jogged off to catch up with his team.

Once he had managed to catch up with them, he led the team towards the east pier. All the lights were out as the power was being diverted to support the failing shield. These areas were a maze as it was, and, in the dark, only the life-signs detectors allowed them to find the invaders.

They met the Genii troops in one of the empty storerooms the new Atlantians had no use for. It was a cavernous room, with a scattering of rubble and old packing cases providing the only cover.

The ensuing fire fight rapidly became a stalemate. The Genii kept trying to circle around, but the life-signs detectors stopped them getting anywhere unseen. However the Atlantians didn't have the numbers to do any more than hold off the larger Genii force.

A loud crash overhead heralded another bolt hitting the shield above them. Ahead of them, John could see the Genii wearing a command uniform talking into a communications device.

Behind the Atlantians, a bright flash deposited a second Genii team. John, seeing he had no route to victory, decided to go for a desperate, last-ditch manoeuvre.

With a roar, he ran out at the smaller group. The remnants of his team followed him in a ragged charge. Their desperate momentum caught the Genii by surprise and John's team dropped three quarters of their enemy before they realised what had happened. However, once they had got themselves together, they easily cut down the Atlantians.

The group, augmented by a third team, then made their way to the gate room.

A.T. R.T. 16:15

Rodney, overseeing the internal sensors, had already seen the falling of John's team, and was now watching the progress of the Genii teams. A second had beamed into the west pier, and both groups were heading towards the gate room.

He was doing his best to make their journey as hard as possible. He kept closing doors as soon as they approached and was directing them on the longest route possible.

Unfortunately, they appeared to be becoming annoyed with the constant diversions and seemed to have explosives with them. That was more than likely to be the C4 they had been given. Therefore, a particularly perverse feeling Rodney activated the fire-control systems and _that_ appeared to slow their progress. In his own way, Rodney was getting his revenge.

Despite Rodney's best efforts, the teams were still converging on the gate room fairly quickly. The team who had faced John arrived first and the gate room defence teams were soon occupied with holding them off.

Contrary to John's orders, Teyla had been left with Rodney, and so together they watched the second Genii group approach on the internal sensors. When they arrived, they would surround the already hard pushed defence team.

Without a word, Rodney locked down the controls and grabbed the gun he had laid on the side. Both were armed with pistols as the defence teams had taken all the automatic weapons.

Teyla handed Rodney what he first thought was a standard issue knife. However, as soon as he took it, he noticed a significant difference. He looked at it questioningly.

"It was my father's. He always said it kept him safe from the Wraith. I hope it will keep you safe as well."

With that, Teyla moved off to the second entrance and Rodney followed, slightly stunned by the gesture.

They met the Genii team just outside the gate room. By some miracle they managed to drop the majority of the troops with their guns and a well aimed grenade Rodney had acquired from somewhere. Now they were only outnumbered three to one, but they also had no ammunition left.

When the shots from the Atlantians fell quiet and there had been a few moments of silence, the remaining Genii cautiously moved forwards. At the door to the gate room, both Teyla and Rodney lay sprawled, blood spreading across their chest from what appeared to be Genii gun wounds.

One of the soldiers roughly kicked Rodney in the side and he rolled over, half on top of Teyla. When neither so much as twitched, the team moved on into the gate room.

Two men dropped as they crossed the bodies, or where they had been. Two more turned to face Rodney, and were cut down from behind by Teyla, and received a hard boot kick to the head.

The remaining men held them off with their guns. As one tried to disarm them, Rodney dropped him with a lucky punch that a boxer would have been proud of. His knife skittered across the floor.

In response, the last man caught him on the side of his head with his gun and Rodney dropped like a stone. Thinking he was dead, Teyla dived at the man with her knife, but he responded faster and she sank to the floor next to Rodney with a real gun wound on her chest.

Rodney, eyes closed and breath held, could feel her blood soaking into his shirt, but remained still until the trooper walked off. He appeared to be the only one left, but Rodney was in no condition to stand, let alone fight.

He listened as hard as he could to what was going on around him.

"I have secured the city. There are no more defence troops, but I require reinforcements. It appears Dr Weir has barricaded herself in her office, and we have no explosives left to get in." Said the soldier, presumably on a communications device.

"What do you mean _I_?" Answered someone.

"I am the last of our troops who can fight. The Atlantians put up a good defence." He added grudgingly.

"Very well. The General wants to deal with Weir himself. Ensure she stays in her office."

"Aye sir." Rodney heard the trooper move off, presumably to stand guard.

A bright flash penetrated Rodney's closed eyelid, and he heard more people moving around. Someone moved towards him.

"What shall we do with the bodies?" He asked.

"Remove our fallen friends. Move the rest to where Weir can see them. We'll deal with them later."

Rodney felt himself being dragged across the floor and dropped irreverently next to a still slightly warm body.

From Elizabeth's office, he heard a crash as the Genii finally broke down her barricade. He risked a glance at the room and saw the self-destruct screen reflecting in the window. Two minutes. He didn't even know it had been started.

"You will deactivate the self-destruct or join your friends down by the gate."

"I will never surrender this city to you." Replied Elizabeth coldly.

Suddenly, a gun shot, a human gun, echoed around the room, quickly followed by three more. Then in the ensuing silence, a single Genii gun discharged. Rodney heard a crash from the window and a dull thump on the floor.

"No, leave them. They shouldn't have been stupid enough to let her get a gun. Shut that self-destruct off."

The tone that signalled 30 seconds left sounded.

"I can't. She's destroyed the computer."

Rodney smiled. Elizabeth had definitely gone down in style.

"Get everyone out of here."

"This part of the Shield's still intact enough to block us beaming out."

Beep. Five seconds. Beep. Four. Beep. Beep. Be...

The last second stretched into an eternity. He was suddenly engulfed in a bright light and he could no longer hear the sounds of the troops running to escape. A sense of extremely fast movement did nothing for his head, which had just begun to clear, and he blacked out.

…ep.

The nuclear bomb that was the Atlantian self-destruct mechanism detonated. Combined with the fuel in the generators still powering the city, the explosion vaporised the entire city and most of the water it lay upon. A quirk of the shield, before it finally collapsed, directed the last of the energy straight up at the cruiser. In its final moments, the city took out its last enemy.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Just a quick note to apolgise for the delay on posting this. This has been sitting in my inbox for three weeks and i never got around to posting. / Enjoy...

I've been here before…

A.T 9:00 R.T. 16:25

Rodney woke on a gurney heading towards the Infirmary. Someone had already removed his bloodstained shirt and was dealing with the cuts he'd used to fool the Genii soldiers. Directly above him, looking down, was a concerned looking Dr Beckett.

"Not my idea of an afterlife." Rodney muttered.

Beckett laughed, "You ain't dead yet, Rodney."

"What happened?"

"We found you on the floor in the gate room, covered in blood and unconscious. Apparently you appeared out of nowhere…"

"What! The last thing I remember was, well, lying on the gate room floor. The Genii had invaded and we weren't able to fight them off. The self-destruct detonated."

"I think you must have been dreaming." Said Beckett, wondering if Rodney had hit his head when he 'appeared'. "As you can see, Atlantis is still in one piece and I don't see any invading Genii."

"Oh, thank you for pointing out the bloody obvious. But wait, what's the date?"

"29th August."

"That's the day it was a minute ago. I mean, before I blacked out." Beckett rolled his eyes, as if Rodney was now pointing out the obvious. Rodney scowled. "What's the time?"

"Just gone nine o' clock."

"But…before I was here…it was the afternoon, gone four…could I have…"

"Rodney, I think you may have hit your head. None of what you said has happened, and there has been no hint that it could."

Rodney pulled another annoyed face. "I did _not_ hit my head! Anyway, we'll know for sure soon. If John's team comes in hot in about three-quarters of an hour, then we'll know."

"Right," replied Beckett sceptically. "First we're going to get you checked out." Rodney knew when he shouldn't argue with the doctor.

A.T. 9:40 R.T. 17:05

"Well, how's our pet genius?" Asked Elizabeth.

Beckett grinned. "Physically he's fine." He replied.

"And mentally?" She asked, catching his qualifier and spotting a catch.

"Well…" he started slowly. "He's still insisting the Genii are going to invade in about six hours." Beckett paused, not keen on the implications.

"And…"

"I do have some evidence that supports his story. The blood on his shirt was mostly his, from a couple of shallow cuts on his chest. From the angle of the cuts, they appear to be self-inflicted. The next largest amount belongs to Teyla." Elizabeth frowned at both sources. "However, some appears to belong to someone not on this expedition. And, the blood cells appear to show signs of the early stages of radiation sickness…"

"Which a Genii involved in the nuclear program would exhibit."

"Yep." Beckett looked down at his notes, and nearly continued when an unscheduled arrival prevented him. Surprised, he looked down at his watch. It was exactly 9:45.

Both arrived in the gate room at the same time as John dashed out of the gate, his team just behind him. One of the nurses from the Infirmary arrived shortly after, with a limping and wincing Rodney in tow.

John looked at Rodney and started at the gait, expression and bloody trousers, but he didn't get a chance to question them before Rodney began to speak at high speed.

"Right. You just ran into a Genii research outpost. That's one of their data drives and you want me to find out what's on it." As Rodney took a breath to continue, John jumped in.

"How the hell did you know that? And more to the point, what the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing important," started Rodney, ignoring all the signs to the contrary. "This has all happened before, just trust me. Now, in a quarter of an hour, I can get that device hooked up and show you our problem."

"Changing those pants covered with _nothing important_ might be a good idea as well." Put in John.

Rodney looked down at them. "Ah. Good idea."

"Right," said a bemused Elizabeth. "Well, I guess we'll meet in the meeting room in fifteen minutes then."

A.T. 10:00 R.T. 17:25

Rodney led the briefing from the very start. He brought up the hologram of the cruiser. "It appears they stole or found a Wraith cruiser and then built their own from it. It is armed with weapons similar to those we found on the Ancient's defence satellites and also has stealth capabilities.

"In an hour and a half, this ship will drop out of hyperspace, about two hours from this planet."

"What if we send the Daedalus to intercept? She's more than a match for a Wraith cruiser." Suggested John.

"A _Wraith _cruiser, yes. Against this unholy combination of technologies, she doesn't stand a chance. She was lost with all hands just over an hour after engaging it."

"I'm sorry," began Caldwell, "_was_? It hasn't happened yet. How can you know the result of a confrontation that is yet to come about?"

"I'm sure I mentioned this. Somehow, this _has_ all happened to me before. Everyone reacted normally, but we couldn't stop the Genii taking over. Everyone, except me of course, who survived the attack was killed by the self-destruct."

"Right..." the Commander started slowly. "Have you been to see Dr Beckett any time recently?"

"_Thank_ you Commander!" Replied Rodney acerbically.

"Well I think he'stelling the truth." Put in John. "He described my mission exactly, before I'd said a word. It wasn't exactly a routine mission either."

"Aye and I tested the blood on his shirt. Some of it almost definitely came from a Genii." Added Beckett.

Rodney, a little taken aback by the unexpected support, continued. "Right, well, our weapons have little effect on the cruiser's shields. Only the drones on the jumpers managed to penetrate and then only in large groups. However, I think if we get the cruiser in range of Atlantis' defences, the combination of our weapons could do the job.'' He shrugged.

"Other than that, we need to prepare for troops beaming into the city as the shield begins to fail. They'll have their normal hand weapons, as well as C4, and will try to take the gate room as quickly as possible." Rodney stopped to think, and then added, "I think that's everything."

There was a moment's silence. "Well that was the weirdest briefing I've attended." Quipped John.

"Definitely," agreed Elizabeth. "Alright. Based on our...unique intelligence, John, I need you to organise the defences as you see fit. Make any intruder's lives as hard as possible. Colonel Caldwell, you are in charge of our aerial forces. Deploy them as you see fit. Rodney, you'll be our consultant on the Genii tactics.

"Well. I think that's everything." She stood up. "Let's see if we can get it right this time."

A.T. 11:30 R.T. 18:55

Rodney, together with a still sceptical Caldwell, hovered over the sensor's controls, which were focused on the area the cruiser was due to emerge from. John and Elizabeth stood a short distance away, awaiting the news. Right on time, the hyperspace window opened and there was a brief flicker as something invisible emerged.

"Okay, Doctor, I know when I've been proved wrong. What would you advise for our defence plans?" Said Caldwell.

"Well, we need to position our ships so that they all are within weapons range at the same time as Atlantis. You're probably better at tactics and formations than I am." He added.

John then asked, "Where will the troops beam in?"

"Last time they came in the East and West piers, but we should prepare for them to appear in any of them."

"Why would it be different this time?"

"I've already made changes this time around. I don't know how this will affect how things pan out this time."

"What like stepping on an ant in the past affecting the future?"

"Precisely, and hopefully we'll get the right one this time."

A.T. 13:30 R.T. 20:55

On the table in front of him, Rodney had two drones in pieces, one from a jumper and one from the outpost they'd discovered not long ago. He had his elbows resting on the desk, peering at them, trying to spot the difference.

Elizabeth came into the room, watching Rodney with concern and stood quietly until he noticed her. She was slightly concerned by the amount of time it took, but he eventually said,

"The cruiser?" He didn't even look up.

"We haven't seen it yet, but we're sweeping the whole system continuously."

"It must be moving slower this time." Now he looked up, stretching his muscles. "I don't get why this one penetrated the Genii shield, but not that one!"

"Do you need a hand?"

"And a second pair of eyes would be useful if you're free."

"What do you need?"

"If you hold these here, I'll power up the drones. I need you to watch those components while I check energy readings." He pointed at the parts he mentioned.

"Sure." Elizabeth did as she was told.

The drones glowed as power ran through them.

"I've had a report that one of your team has been putting themselves at risk." Elizabeth said mildly, and then paused to see how he would respond.

"Really? In what way?" He asked, and then added, "Any difference between them?"

Elizabeth checked and double checked. "No. They say the person has been working too hard, opening themselves to mistakes as they get tired." She'd timed the comment well. Rodney was just taking a pull of his especially strong coffee.

"Well I'll have a word with them all." He reached to his controls and turned the drones up to full power. "How about now?"

"There's an Ancient number there, one hundred and sixty five, but on that one its one hundred and ninety."

"That's probably an ID code so that the Chair or jumper can keep track of it. Oh well." He shut them off. "I can't see a difference." Rodney still didn't seem to be catching Elizabeth's hint. "Thanks for your help. I'd better get to the Chair room."

He headed off, pulling out a powerbar from a pocket and taking his coffee with him. Elizabeth sighed. There was no way she was going to get the physicist to rest. Instead, she headed off to the control room.

A.T. 14:40 R.T. 22:05

Rodney watched the sensors panel on his data pack as the cruiser decloaked. He thought it odd that they hadn't taken the same amount of time to arrive, but decided they must have just moved more cautiously.

The F303s and the Daedalus moved out from the shadow of the planet. They, the jumpers and Atlantis herself opened fire at the same instant. The space around the cruiser was soon thick with various projectiles and missiles.

The cruiser seemed overwhelmed by the sheer amount of defence at first, but quickly opened fire, starting on the smaller targets. The glow of various projectiles was soon competing with the fireballs of unfortunate fighter craft hit by the cruiser's weapon fire.

The Atlantian's shots weren't nearly as lucky. Very few penetrated, doing little damage, and the rest became brief, bright splashes on the shields. Everyone not actively involved in the fight watched as their best efforts failed in the face of the enemy.

Soon even the Daedalus was overcome and the cruiser began it's bombardment of the shield. Not long after, the supply of drones was exhausted and a tired John came to coordinate the defence teams.

The first troops beamed in through the shield exactly where Rodney said they would, only to be cut down by a defence team hidden in prearranged boxes and crates. The next wave met the same fate, but the third were smarter. They materialised behind the defence, closely followed by a second group on the other side. The defenders were rapidly overwhelmed.

Cadman, who was in charge of the second line of defence, became worried when the team didn't check in. "Cadman to Colonel Sheppard, can you detect the east defence team? They haven't checked in."

"One second." He glanced at the internal sensors. They only showed a group of dots moving towards Cadman's position. "They have gone down. You have hostiles moving in fast."

Only silence met his words. A second look at the sensors showed her position under attack. "Sheppard to east second line, do you copy?"

He heard the click of someone activating their radio and it was then replaced by the roar of an explosive loud enough to force him to remove his earpiece. It had sounded suspiciously like a C4 device, and was followed by an ominous silence. John watched the screen, but those sensors were blinded by the explosion. He watched the others instead, and awaited the inevitable.

A.T. 16:25 R.T. 23:50

The gate room defence teams, now the last troops on Atlantis, had managed to hold off the Genii until now. The gate and control rooms had become the last refuges of the Atlantians, and for the moment, the battle had drawn to a halt.

The shield was almost completely gone, only the central tower was now protected, and the cruiser had ceased fire in order to prevent the accidental destruction of the city in the process. The Genii were now completely confident of success.

Rodney, John and Elizabeth were watching the Genii moving around the city. One by one they were deactivating the naquadah reactors, presumably in an attempt to deactivate the remnants of the shield. As yet, they hadn't discovered the ZPM room, or if they had the troops hadn't seen the significance.

As the power from the last generator faded, they watched the Genii dots begin to close on the gate room. It was getting close to last stand time.

John went out to check on his defence teams. The sensors had shown the Genii were moving to attack on all sides at once and so the last defenders were placed accordingly.

Both Rodney and Elizabeth were armed, and Rodney had managed to acquire another knife. He had already been involved in a fight when he had been falling back to the gate room after an attempt to secure the Ancient's power control centre. John had commented favourably on his obvious improvement, but Rodney refrained from saying that fighting for his life had been more practice than sparring with Teyla, far more than he'd ever wanted.

While still a short, slightly chubby man, a fact which was slowly changing, so much time spent fiddling with technology with tiny components had given Rodney particularly good hand-eye coordination and he had reasonably sharp reflexes. Provided he stayed calm, he made a pretty good close-quarters fighter. His aim was still shoddy though, but, though John would never admit it, he could think of few others he'd want to watch his back.

However, in this fight, that wouldn't be so. The team opposite John's was attacked with far more strength, and so everyone not already involved was called there. The physicist was yet again faced with one-on-one fighting against a man a good foot taller and a lot stronger.

So far he'd managed to avoid the ham like fist and the gun used like a club. However, he was tiring quickly. Lashing out at chest height, he drew a red streak across his opponent's chest, but it probably only served to aggravate him.

A fist catching him in the chest sent Rodney sprawling across the floor. The Genii trooper swung his gun in an arc that would knock Rodney out at best. The worst didn't even bear thinking about.

Just moments before it connected, Rodney felt like he was pulled bodily away, while not seeming to go anywhere. The Genii vanished in the nauseating blur and was replaced by the unobstructed view of the gate room ceiling. He'd been pulled back yet again.

Realising he looked quite a sight, bloody knife in hand and blood, both his and someone else's, smeared on clothes and face, he decided to head to his room before explaining the situation.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Apologies again for the delay. Once more, this has spent ages in my inbox until I could get around to posting it.

I've been here before…

A.T 14:40 R.T. 1:5:42

Rodney watched the sensors yet again as the Atlantian ships fought over the planet. This time around, he focused on the jumper's shots compared to the outpost's drones. He couldn't see the difference, but time would tell.

He didn't want to watch the loss of hundreds of lives, yet again, but he had to find out what was different. He had a unique opportunity and he needed to make the most of it.

He had to turn off the screen as the Daedalus's last moments proceeded, but he got what he needed. He paused, head bowed for a minute, contemplating his situation.

If he couldn't solve this, would he have to keep going, forced to relive the death of his friends over and over again until he was killed as well? Would that be the end? Would the loops stop and Atlantis fall, or would everyone be trapped for an eternity? Which was worse?

For more than ten minutes, he just stood there, his mind going around and around, and he wondered if it was worth continuing. Could he change the outcome? Was he right to try and fight time itself to save them? He just stood there, completely silent.

In her office, Elizabeth watched the physicist, immensely concerned by his lack of action for the last quarter of an hour. Aware of their one hope for survival's inner struggle, she made a call on her radio.

A.T. 14:55 R.T. 1:5:57

Rodney stared unseeing at the blank panel before him. He hadn't moved since the destruction of the Daedalus. In his mind, turmoil ruled over the usually analytical man.

Gently, a hand rested on his shoulder, but he didn't respond to the touch. Quietly, someone said, "Rodney?" Their tone conveyed in a word all the concern and pity they had for him.

The tone penetrated the chaos further than any words could. It reminded him of those he would condemn by giving up. The surge of loyalty induced by it warred with the uncertainty, driving it back a way. Rodney looked up to see who was standing next to him.

On one side, arm draped across Rodney's shoulders, stood John, looking extremely worried. On the other side stood Teyla, her arm resting on Rodney's - something he hadn't even noticed. She was the one who had spoken.

"Weir told us you were here. Everyone's getting worried about you." Said John quietly.

Rodney didn't reply.

"We understand what you must be going through." Added Teyla.

Rodney looked at her. "How? How can you know what it is like to see you all killed and then go back and know it'll happen again?" The words came out in one long sob.

"We know," replied John, "because we see all those we've lost because of our mistakes every night. But you have a chance to change that. Are you really prepared to stand aside and let it slip away?"

A glimmer of hope showed on Rodney's face, and John smiled and clapped his shoulder. "That's better."

A.T. 16:15 R.T. 1:7:17

Rodney turned, instinctively ducking a blow and lashing out with one of his own. His blade drew a line across the man's arm and he dropped his gun. A blow around the back of his head made the man drop, revealing a blood smeared John, gun held like a bludgeon.

They both turned to face the door where the troops had been entering. All seemed quiet, they'd held off that last wave, though at the cost of the rest of their team.

Out of nowhere, a single Genii soldier dashed straight at John. He dodged the spray of bullets from John's gun, and before he could move, Rodney saw a flash of steel.

Finally able to move, Rodney emptied his handgun's magazine into the Genii's chest. Before his body hit the floor, Rodney had moved to John's side. Slowly, with Rodney's support, John sank to the ground, head supported off the floor by Rodney's legs, and Rodney's hand over the wound.

Despite his best efforts, blood was spilling over Rodney's hand, something that would previously disgust him. Now, it was unimportant. He looked around for a medic, but Beckett and the rest of his team were scattered around the room, all perfectly still. In fact, there was nobody else. He and John were the only ones left, and he could feel John slipping away under his hands.

Seeing Rodney look around, John asked, "How did we do?"

"We won!" Rodney replied, despite every feeling telling him otherwise. He tried to put on a smile he didn't believe. "We just have to wait for Beckett to finish with someone else, then he'll come over, and you'll be fine, and then we can carry on exploring this galaxy."

John smiled weakly. "Don't lie to a dying man, Rodney." He coughed and closed his eyes.

"Hey, hey, stay with me here."

John opened his eyes again and looked up at him. "I'm not going anywhere, just so tired..." His voice trailed off. His breath slowed, and he gave one final sigh. Gently, while struggling to keep his emotions under control, Rodney brushed John's eyes closed.

Taking deep breaths in order to remain calm, Rodney just sat in the middle of the gate room. John's blood was still soaking into his trousers, he was in a room filled with his dead friends and he was sure the cruiser was still in orbit. He'd never felt so alone.

An alarm pierced the silence. He had five minutes until he would jump back. Gently, he rearranged John into a more dignified position and got up. His trousers were the colour of rust, his face and hands grimy from battle, his shirt in tatters.

He reached for his laptop and transferred all the information about the cruiser to the removable hard drive. Then, to a smaller flash drive he copied a recording he had prepared. Then, with only a minute to go, he positioned himself in Elizabeth's office, looking to where he knew she would be.

Right on time, he was enveloped by the sense of extreme motion.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Well, this is nearly done. Thanks for everyone who's stuck with this, and especially to my wonderful beta who has helped catch some rather annoying mistakes that I never would have spotted. Only one more to go, so enjoy...

I've been here before…

A.T. 9:00 R.T. 1:7:39

Elizabeth looked up as she heard a movement in front of her. At first she registered only the face as Rodney's, and mustered a scowl for him for barging into her office. Then she registered his appearance.

Despite her annoyance, she hesitated while she took in the mess he was in. Ideas of the cause flicked through her mind. The first one was, 'Oh god! What has he been fiddling with this time?' However, something about him, something very un-Rodney-like, made her shorten it to, "What's happened?"

Rodney, after taking a moment to reorient himself, replied, "At nine forty-five, when John comes through the gate, play the file on this." He slid the flash drive across her desk. "I'll be in my lab." He turned around and headed off.

Normally, Elizabeth would have stopped him and asked for an explanation, but what could be best described as a closedness about him stopped her. She wondered what had happened to cause such a dramatic change to the normally talkative physicist.

A.T. 9:55 R.T. 1:8:34

John walked into Rodney's lab. He had passed most of the other scientists walking the other way, none looking too happy. Now he saw why. Rodney, fortunately now dressed in clean clothes, was working at a computer alone. Dr Zelenka was cautiously watching him from afar so John approached him first.

"Is he alright?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." Zelenka replied slowly. "He does not sound like Rodney. He seems...err...how do you say..." He faltered.

"Closed?"

Zelenka examined the word for a moment. "Yes, that is it. He does not answer me when I ask him things, he just tells me to leave."

"Well, I'll give it a go. Just be ready to rescue me if he starts throwing things." John grinned.

"You think you are joking?" Replied Zelenka. He wasn't smiling.

John moved over to Rodney's side, but before he opened his mouth, Rodney, who hadn't turned around said, "Go away."

"You really think you're getting rid of me that easily? Now, what's wrong?"

Rodney turned to face him, and for a moment, a strong emotion John couldn't quite identify registered on his features. Then an impassive mask flowed over them, and he could almost see the wall descending in the physicist's eyes. "Nothing. Please, just leave me alone." There was a slight hitch in his voice that revealed some underlying emotion that just defied recognition.

"Rodney. You can't fool me that easily. Elizabeth told me about your visit earlier." They had both been concerned by his appearance, and completely bemused by the fact that he predicted exactly John's unscheduled arrival.

"Just go. Watch the video. It'll explain everything, and please, don't come here asking me questions. Not about anything." There was that hitch again, and John could have sworn he saw tears in the man's eyes.

"But..."

"Just go, please." Entreaty filled his expression, along with that emotion that John still couldn't work out. He thought he knew Rodney pretty well, but this was something he hadn't seen before and it troubled him.

Reluctantly, he turned away, and, after a second backward glance, he walked out, collecting Zelenka as he passed.

A.T. 10:25 R.T. 1:9:04

The room fell silent as the last image of the briefing faded.

"Can we believe this?" Asked Caldwell, earning glares from some of the other people around the table.

"Yes." Replied Elizabeth. "He accurately predicted John's unscheduled arrival, so I believe the rest will also become true. Now, John, you went to see him. How's he doing modifying the drones?"

"I've no idea." Replied John. "He asked me to go away and leave him to work alone. I think he may have seen something bad even by our standards in one of those previous loops, but _I _don't want to talk to him about it until we're in the clear."

"What do you mean, 'seen something'? We can't have our best hope of victory putting himself out of action." Said Caldwell.

"I'm not sure, but I think he's trying to block it out." He didn't add, 'I think it was about me.'

Elizabeth nodded, "We'll keep an eye an on him. Anything else?"

As nobody answered, the meeting broke up.

A.T. 14:40 R.T. 1:13:19

Rodney watched as the first drones approached their target. He visibly flinched as they were deflected causing no damage. Using the scanners, he collected what information he could. Yet another modification to the drones had failed.

Reluctantly, he made his way back to his lab and began to work on the plan again. Every now and again he checked he still had the flash drive in his chest pocket. On it, as well as the briefing, was a personal message, just in case.

He continued to work with next to no rest. Against the doctor's better judgement, Rodney made Beckett administer a stimulant so he could keep working, but the need to save his friends worked better than any drug.

He made every variation he could to the drones, but any advantage they gained disappeared after the first ten minutes.

Finally, after a week of ceaseless working, while his friends fought the Genii and lost to them again and again, he finally made a breakthrough.

A.T. 12:10 R.T. 7:1:46

Rodney rushed to catch up with John. He looked a mess, clothes unchanged for a couple of days, unshaven and exhausted.

"John, I think I've got it, but I need your help."

John stopped and spun around, surprised. The physicist, who, from John's point of view, had turned instantly from a fairly happy, excitable man, to one who made every attempt to avoid contact with everyone, had barely said ten words to him since the mission.

He could still sense the closedness about him, but whatever he needed overrode it, so John didn't even hesitate. "Sure, what is it?"

"I need to get into the computer system."

"You already can."

"No, the way _you_ can. I think it's possible, but I need you to let me in."

"Okay. Where?"

"The auxiliary controls in the Chair Room."

John nodded and the way. They walked in silence, Rodney fighting to stay calm with every second of John's presence reminding him of that day almost a week ago. John, still worried, watched as the signs of the battle flickered across his friend's face.

They reached the Chair Room, and John turned to face the physicist. "Well, what do I do?"

"Sit on the Chair. It should be obvious if you can do it."

John nodded again. As he settled himself in the Chair, Rodney placed both hands on the controls. They both concentrated hard, eyes closed.

John was soon in the view he always saw when he used the chair. He could just sense Rodney's presence, as if he was just in the corner of his eye. A thought, and a little persuasion, made Atlantis let him in.

In the real world, Rodney reeled as the information overwhelmed his senses. With his customary stubbornness, he held onto the panel as he gradually acclimatised. John was quite frankly impressed. The last new person able to control the Chair hadn't been able to deal with the sheer quantity of raw data.

"So. What do you need to do?" Muttered John, though it echoed loudly in both their minds.

"I think, if I can make the changes to the drones at random, they'll be able to break through the Genii shields."

"Okay. If you don't need me here, I'll go explore the database, see if I can find anything useful."

Rodney sensed John's presence move away, and, hoping this wouldn't unduly strain the ZPM, began to work.

A.T. 12:10 R.T. 7:1:51

John hovered nearby in the system. He was certain Rodney wouldn't notice it over all the noise of the rest of the information, but John could sense quite a lot from him.

Gently, so Rodney wouldn't notice, he concentrated on him. He couldn't get much, the system wasn't designed for such uses, but he could feel that the man wasn't as calm as he appeared.

Backing away, he had a quick rummage through the database and then returned to the defence systems. "Are you finished?"

"As much as I can until the cruiser arrives." Replied Rodney.

"Okay."

John removed himself from the system. Only when it was too late did he remember that only his will kept Rodney in it as well. The force of the system ejecting him knocked the physicist across the floor. John rushed over to help him up. "Sorry about that. Are you alright?"

"Physically, yes."

John pounced on the qualifier. "And mentally?"

The effect was instant. Rodney closed up and simply replied, "Yes." He made to move off, but John stepped in the way.

"Rodney. You are _not_ fine. I could feel it in there." He cocked a thumb at the Chair.

"What?"

"It was as clear as a bell." He lied. He clasped Rodney's shoulders, forcing him to look him in the eye. "Promise me you'll talk to someone when this is all over. I can't even begin to imagine what you've gone through, but you can't bottle everything up."

For a moment, Rodney tried to barge past, but he had neither the strength nor the mass. Knowing full well when he was beaten, he looked at John. "All right. I promise."

John, satisfied Rodney would keep the promise, let him go. The physicist hurried off down the corridor.

A.T. 14:40 R.T. 7:4:21

Beckett watched as John and Rodney prepared themselves, immersed in the Atlantis' computer network. He wasn't pleased about this, knowing it was mentally and physically exhausting, and Rodney was already spread thin. However, he doubted either man would step aside.

An alarm sounded as, right on cue, the cruiser appeared.

In the defence system, John watched as the cruiser entered his reach. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Rodney looked around the unreal landscape. The Daedalus, the jumpers and the F302s were all waiting in the shadow of the planet, ready to move in at a moments notice.

As the cruiser started firing, he found he couldn't keep track of everything, so didn't bother. Despite this, he felt every impact on the shield and they hurt. When John opened fire, Rodney was nearly overwhelmed again. He only just managed to keep himself in place until his mind filtered out the unnecessary details.

Picking groups of drones at random, he made subtle changes to their internal functions. Each change made the drone's points a different colour. Above the pair, the sky was lit with a kaleidoscope of colour.

While some drones were deflected, most ripped through the cruiser's shields. The deck guns were torn from their housings and great chunks of the hull fell away. A few escape pods dropped away and their contents were beamed directly into holding cells.

Before the Daedalus got into weapons range, the cruiser was a wreck, and not long after its rail guns opened fire, the wreck was reduced to many glittering splinters.

For a moment, stunned by their victory, both John and Rodney just stopped and watched from their unique perspective. Then, a tap on Rodney's arm, which felt decidedly unreal, made him drop out of the system, closely followed by John.

The shock to his senses as the additional stimuli ceased made Rodney feel like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him. Looking down, he saw he was drenched in sweat.

"If you two are finished, you should both rest. You both look like you defeated the cruiser with your bare hands!" Said Beckett, looking balefully at them.

Looking over to John, who was in a similarly bad state, Rodney wondered why winning easily was harder than losing badly. "No." He said. "I've got to get to the lab before I loop back again. I do _not_ want to have to win this battle _again_."

As he pushed himself up from the control panel, he felt his legs sag beneath him and he dropped to the floor. John moved to his side to help him up, Beckett grabbing his other side.

"Well, half your body has the right idea." Quipped Beckett as they lifted him to his feet.

"Oh, very funny." Shot back Rodney, though he was grateful for the help.

Together, Beckett and John keeping Rodney on a straight course, they made their way to a transporter and then on to a lab.

A.T. 15:10 R.T. 7:4:51

The odd device Rodney had deduced to be the cause of his loops was still lying on its stand in the centre of the room. On it, the lights were still flashing in what Rodney now recognized as a countdown.

Rodney half walked, half fell towards the control station and sank gratefully into the chair. He then began to rummage through the database, desperately aware that he probably didn't have time to decipher all the research notes.

John had a good look at the device.

"Do you mind if I try something?" He asked.

"Just be careful." Said Rodney automatically.

John rolled his eyes and cautiously waved his hand over the device, concentrating on turning it off. When that failed, he gently laid a hand on it. There was no change.

Seeing Rodney scanning through the database, he moved to his side. "Can you show me a phrase to look for?"

"How will that help, there's only one screen in here." Replied Rodney without thinking.

"Since when did I need a screen?"

_That _penetrated Rodney's sleep deprived mind. "Oh. Here." He entered a command and a handful of Ancient symbols appeared.

"Thanks. Oh, and by the way, that was real slow, even for you. You need sleep."

"Later."

When John placed a purposeful hand on the console, Beckett went to argue, but before he could draw breath, John was in.

Working from both ends, they raced through the file. Finally they found an entry which said Rodney was the one who had to shut it off.

Carefully, Rodney got up and placed a hand on the device. There was no change.

"Concentrate Rodney."

"_I am._"

"No, you're not."

Rodney sighed and closed his eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a humming he hadn't noticed stopped. His eyes snapped open and he saw the inactive device under his palm.

As relief coursed through his body, he relaxed, and John and Beckett only just caught him before he hit the floor.

Together, they managed to carry him to his room, though each step was more difficult than the last for John. Carefully, they laid him down on his bed, where he instantly fell asleep. John sank into the chair by his desk.

Beckett paused to check Rodney was staying asleep, and then whispered to John. "You're next. To bed."

Only a gentle snore answered him, and he turned to see John slumped on the desk. Deciding moving him to his quarters without waking him was impossible, Beckett fashioned a make-shift bed on the floor and gently dropped him onto it. Then, glad they were both finally resting, he headed off to the infirmary.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well, this is the end. I want to thank everyone who's stuck with this. Also, while my beta has been doing an excellent job, she doesn't want to continue, and so I am looking for another beta for any stories I write in the future... At the moment there aren't any planned, though volunteers would be nice :). Anyway... enjoy...

I've been here before...

A.T. 1:12:00

John woke with a start, more than a little disorientated by finding himself on an unfamiliar floor. Once he'd worked out he was still on Atlantis, he heard the reason why he had woken. Above and to his side, he heard the sounds of a man stuck in a nightmare.

Finally, he recognised the room as Rodney's, and while he puzzled through _why_ he was there, he stood up, stretching muscles stiff from yesterday's exercise.

Deciding he couldn't leave Rodney in his nightmare, he gently shook his shoulder. Rodney woke in a much more violent way than he expected, but as he calmed down, his mind, still a little tired, caught up with the present.

"Why're you in my room?" He asked.

"No idea. I must have dropped off and nobody moved me. Are you alright? That sounded like one hell of a nightmare."

"I'm fine."

John gave him a disbelieving look, but as it raised no response, John headed towards the door. He intended to get a shower and find out what was going on.

As he reached the door, Rodney, now sitting on the edge of his bed, spoke up. "Well... actually..." He faltered.

John sighed. "I know you've seen something happen. It's changed you. You aren't the Rodney that, from my point of view, you were two days ago. If talking about it brings the old one back, then I'm happy to listen."

Rodney stayed quiet for a minute, and John came over to sit next to him. "Rodney?"

The obvious concern in his tone chipped at the dams holding back the strains of the past week.

"I saw it happen, over and over again." He started.

Foreseeing the rush of emotions about to break through, John put a comforting arm around the physicist. "It's alright."

"I saw you all die, again and again, and I couldn't do a thing about it." Tears ran down his cheeks as sobs coursed through his body. "You died in my arms. I...I...I was so alone... We were the last two left and you left me alone."

"I'm still here Rodney. I'm not going anywhere." He had realised that Rodney had gone through a lot, but that last sentence had shaken him. "It didn't happen. You stopped it."

"I saw it happen. How can you say it didn't happen? You left me." Rodney clung to him like a small child. He became increasingly upset as he went over the memory.

John never realised Rodney had such a close attachment to him. But, now he thought about it, he did seem like a brother to him. "Shh. It's alright. I'm here. I'm back. You saved me." He practically cradled the distraught man, and slowly, he calmed down.

They moved apart, Rodney still sniffling a little. "You must think I'm really stupid, a coward."

John's expression changed in an instant. All traces of sympathy had disappeared. His face went so fierce Rodney tried to draw back, scared, but John held him tightly by his shoulders.

"_Never, ever,_ let _anyone_ tell you that! You are far braver than anyone else in this city. I saw your watch. Twenty-odd loops, defeats each one. And yet, you won! You kept working and defeated all the odds. _Never_ say you are a coward."

Looking decidedly stunned after that tirade, Rodney said weakly. "You really think so?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't." Replied John firmly. "Now, I suggest we'd better show ourselves before a few rumours start. But not until we've both showered."

Rodney looked at both of their appearances and grinned.

"Now that's better." John clapped his shoulder and then headed off to his room.

A.T. 1:14:00

Rodney received a hero's welcome when he entered the Gate Room, much to his surprise as he didn't feel like one. John trailed behind, allowing the physicist the full spotlight, and in order to listen in to what people didn't want him to hear.

"I heard he cried like a baby..."

John paused, and then grabbed the man who had come out with that ill-timed comment. "Do you want to try that one again?" He said menacingly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elizabeth spot what was happening and deliberately turn away.

"No. You can't intimidate me. He's a coward and always will be."

The entire room fell silent as the man's raised voice echoed around the room.

John's fist blurred and the man slid across the floor. "_Wrong_ answer."

He then walked away, and nobody went over to help the sprawling scientist. Never had Rodney had such unanimous support, and with him far from over his past week, he had never needed it more.

As John drew level with him, Rodney said, "There was no need to hit him, you know."

"Anyone who calls you a coward deserves a punch or two, yourself included. Now, I think you've earned a drink." He led Rodney to where someone was handing out drinks. They then had the most enjoyable evening the physicist had had in a long time.

Fini


End file.
